DIRECT AND EVIDENT THREAT: HOW TO FIGHT WITH RAIDERSHIP DESTROYING NATIONAL ECONOMY

One of the main tasks confronting the country as a whole and especially State power is to create favorable conditions for running a business and developing entrepreneurship, as President Medvedev declared more than once. That, in its turn, presupposes first of all protection of property. The Head of the State, having recently taken up his post, is caught here by a very powerful and evasive enemy – raiders, who have been living and thriving for the second ten of years and have especially developed for the last 4-5 years. And who can be defeated only if blocked all around. Just that very conclusion was drawn in the report of the president of the Centre of Political Technologies Igor Bunin “Raidership as a social, economic and political phenomenon of Modern Russia” which he presented yesterday.

The research of the same name, which was the foundation of the report, determined place, significance and scale of modern raidership in our country and failure of undertaken attempts to fight with it. Traditionally raidership is divided into three so-called “colour” types: “black” – use of only illegal instruments (blackmail, bandit raids, coming into the company by force and so on), “gray” – combination of quasilegal and illegal measures (when to “settle the question” state officials are drawn in, who take “right”, supposedly legal decisions on the grounds of forged documents as well), and “white” – quasilegal actions (organization of strikes, checks, disruptions of meetings of shareholders). But, as a rule, even “white” doesn’t do without violation of current legislation.

And concerning this question, too, our country has followed its own path. Russian raiders often use the so-called “mixed” approach. For example, the story with an attempted seizure of the largest Russian producer and exporter of synthetic ammonia – Togliattiazot, the conflict around which, having started in summer 2005, has not been settled so far. Then Synttech Company bought about 10 % shares of the integrated chemical plant and wanted to get control over the Board of Directors of ToAZ. Approximately at the same time criminal charges were instituted against owner of the main share holding Vladimir Makhlai and manager of the plant Alexander Makarov for “evasion of taxes”, “large-scale fraud”, “laundering of illegal funds”. Almost two years later another criminal charge was instituted against them but courts of Samara Region (firstly district, then regional) recognized it as illegal. The office of the Prosecutor General had to set aside the decision to institute another criminal charge, what was later confirmed by the Moscow District and City Courts.

Such persistence of law enforcing bodies could have been interpreted as traditional “standing on guard of law and State interests” if all above-mentioned actions had not been accompanied by numerous checks and seizures of documents during searches done approximately at the same time. Almost simultaneously the Federal Property Department at the Samara Region Arbitration Court suddenly decided to dispute the results of privatization of Togliattiazot’s state shares and demanded to recognize it as illegal. By a strange coincidence tax services livened up, too, and a firm, about which nobody had ever heard before, began to sue the enterprise for the damage caused to it by the sale of ammonia supposedly at understated prices. And the Ivanovo Arbitration Court addressed by still unknown persons, having shown false documents, even transferred the shares of the enterprise. However, acquisition of the shares lasted only several days and was cancelled by the same judge who had passed this decision.

Raiders who attempted to seize one of the leading enterprises of national economy seem to have enlisted the support of the supreme organs of government. Thus, for example, first vice-chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia Yelena Valyavina, having given a recognizance to be responsible for false evidence, has recently told that in connection with this case she was applied to even from Kremlin. She was asked to set aside her decision to cancel acquisition of the shares of the company. If such people at such posts have been exposed to pressure it is quite clear that President Dmitriy Medvedev, having paid special attention to the problem, is absolutely right, “One of the displays of disrespect to property, labor of other people is illegal seizures of firms (the so-called raidership), still taking place on a mass scale. What kind of initiative and motivation can be here if a businessman knows that at any second he can be deprived of his business because of bandit operations? It is, as a matter of fact, a relict of complicated relations of the 90-s. I think it is quite necessary to pass anti-raiders’ laws as soon as possible. And it must be done so that it will not be a banal declaration, but will create real instruments to prevent raidership” Especially dangerous, as Bunin explained, is that after private raiders fighting with each other even representatives of state power got engaged in raidership.

Such examples, when raiders attempt to seize not an enterprise bringing little profit, but a leader of a branch or, at least, a company built in the production chain so that it can be considered a key one, are very numerous all over our long-suffering Fatherland. Novosibirsk Aircraft Repair Plant, Kazan Orthopaedic Plant, being together with Togliattiazot classical illustrations in Bunin’s report, are only most typical examples. And there also was Stupin Metallurgical Plant having a strategic importance for a number of branches. All these examples prove once again an unalterable fact that till raidership is not defeated all talks about proprietary rights, innovations and accelerated growth of economy will for the most part remain talks.

Natural question is what to do. The main and paramount task, as experts of the Centre of Political Technologies think, is to pass anti-raiders’ laws as soon as possible. It needn’t be wondered that their position coincides with the opinion of the president and lawyer. Moreover, the research was being carried out before Medvedev took up his post. In this case it is rather worth being glad about coincidence of opinions.

What is to be changed? The law on joint-stock companies, code of administrative violations, change in criminal legislation, draft law toughening demands of private security firms and detective agencies, law on securities market. A great part of changes is amendments specifying notions and toughening punishments.

According to the opinion of experts, it is quite clear that any law will be good only when it is executed. And here they hope on the coming decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court which began to consider the question about protection of businessmen’s rights in April, this year. According to the draft resolution, responsibility of officials for taken decisions will significantly increase. And it is one of the key aspects. Without arbitrariness of officials who use their duties as a cover no raider seizure will ever get status of a legal action.

The time to take decision has come. And as Bunin said, Russia is faced with the choice where to go “The country will come to civilization, or turn into a strange corruption organization”.